long live the cold war

Castro Questions Timing of Cuban Spy Arrests
by Anita Snow

HAVANA - Fidel Castro called the case of two Americans accused of spying for Cuba "strange" Saturday and questioned whether the timing of their arrests was politically motivated.

Honduras' Foreign Minister Patricia Rodas reads the Organization of American States' (OAS) agreement to readmit Cuba, during the 39th OAS' General Assembly being held in San Pedro Sula. Cuba's communist government has declared a "major victory" following the landmark decision by the Organization of American States (OAS) to lift its 47-year exclusion of the Caribbean island.
(AFP/Orlando Sierra)In an essay read by a newscaster on state television, the former Cuban leader noted that the retired Washington couple were taken into custody just 24 hours after the Organization of American States voted to lift a decades-old suspension of Cuba's membership in that group.

Though the U.S. ultimately supported the OAS vote Wednesday, the administration of President Barack Obama initially wanted to see more democratic reforms on the communist island before Cuba was readmitted.

Castro called the OAS vote "a defeat for United States diplomacy."

Walter Kendall Myers and his wife, Gwendolyn, were arrested Thursday in Washington after a three-year investigation that began before Myers' retirement from the State Department in 2007.

The U.S. government says they had been spying for Havana for 30 years, recruited by Cuba after a 1978 trip there. Myers received his orders by Morse code, and he and his wife usually hand-delivered intelligence, sometimes by exchanging carts in a grocery store, according to court documents.

"Doesn't the story of Cuban spying seem really ridiculous to everyone?" Castro asked, without commenting on its validity.

Myers had been under suspicion since 1995 and FBI investigation since 2006.

If the couple had been watched that long, "why were they not arrested before?" Castro asked.

Court documents say the two were such valued spies, they once had a four-hour meeting with Castro, whom Myers described as one of the great modern political leaders.

Castro said he doesn't recall meeting them when he was still president.

"I met during this time with thousands of Americans for various reasons, individually or in groups, on occasion with gatherings of several hundred of them," said the 82-year-old, who ceded power to his brother Raul when he fell ill nearly three years ago and has not been seen in public since.

"Perhaps influencing the case was not only the tremendous reverse suffered (by the U.S.), but also the news that contacts are being made between the governments of the United States and Cuba on issues of common interest," he added.

Cuba agreed to resume talks with the Obama administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and direct mail services after an overture from the U.S. last month.


this story is like something from 50 years ago. cuban spies in the state department? come on! and just when openings were appearing in cuba's relations with the rest of latin america. even the u.s was showing some signs of not blaming cuba for everything that has gone wrong with the world since 1959. this is nothing but an attempt to destroy this momentum for change in how cuba is treated within the hemisphere. i'm not sure who instigated this shit coming out, but the reason for it coming out is clear to me. the half century demonization of cuba will not go quietly. there are those who insist in playing the game the way it has always been played. cuba makes for a ready scapegoat. we can speak of them as violators of human rights as we bomb civilians. yes, they are a nice target to kick around. it's a nice connection to the past of anti-communist hysteria. we don't let our enemies get away easily, even if they're not really enemies. especially if they're not really enemies. for then, we can really attack them, without fear of reprisal.

we make fun of the 50's, but did we ever leave them? who in the major media mocked this story? if this issue is of grave consequence, why were the "spies" not charged for 12 years? and just what advantage did cuba reap from whatever transpired? did the embargo end? were american cities bombed? so what if the allegations are true, who cares? how does it impact any of our lives? the fact is, we are the criminals. it is cuba and its people that have suffered from the policies of the u.s government, not the other way around. bullshit like this disguises the truth, and attempts to confuse us as to who the victim is.

the power elite holds on to power, every inch of it. it concedes nothing, and cares not for truth. cuba is no threat to us, and they know that. but to them, cuba will always be a threat: the threat of an alternative. they embody the idea that a nation can be politically and economically independent of the u.s. they tell us a nation can expropriate american corporations, and give free health care and education to its citizens. for this, they remain the eternal enemy of the american power structure. this latest pathetic example to scapegoat them, and to harken back to banal cold war stories of spies and government agents, speaks to how far the system will go to keep cuba as a pariah state.

big o, care to comment?